5 reasons the Celtics won't reach the finals
If anyone else has been watching the NBA playoffs so far, you'll most certainly have noticed that the celtics have had their fair share of scares in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Although the semifinals were against a legit opponent that had arguably the best player in the league, the first round was played against a team that snuck into the playoffs with less than 40 wins (sorry hawks fans, but its kinda true that you guys got lucky). Not to say they didn't give the C's a run for their money, but the celtics should have and were expected to blast through the playoffs on their return to glory. so where has that glory of the green gone? where is KG's passion in the endgames?
Be scared celtic fans, because looming large tonight is the definition of a battle-tested playoff team. The Pistons have reached four straight conference finals after winning their title in 2004 and are hungry for a return to the finals, and if things hold up, i wont be surprised to see the Pistons, and not the celtics, squaring off against the west's champion.
here are my top 5 reasons why the pistons will win this series and reach the finals one more time.
1. Winning road games: During the regular season, the C's were the best team on the road, by far. With a 31-10 record, the celtics were the definition of dominance on the road. However, Since the start of the playoffs, they haven't won a single game on the road, dropping three games each in Atlanta and Cleveland. Even though they are extremely dominant at home, it will take more than that to beat Detroit. To win this series, the Celtics need to split the two games at the Palace to have a real shot of moving on.
On the other hand, Detroit has been the only team that has consistently won on the road these playoffs. they dispatched the sixers in six, closing out the series in Philly, and they routed orlando in 5 games, splitting the games played in Orlando. The odds are very low that detroit will give up more games than they already have at the palace, and the Celtics are not looking very certain of themselves at home.
2. Proven scorers: We all know about the "boston three party", but what you may or may not have noticed is how that became a two person affair in the Cleveland series, when Ray Allen couldn't hit the ocean if he tried (he shot a whopping .328 from the field on 20-61 shooting, including .167 from beyond the arc on 4-24 shooting). Paired up with the fact that Allen is mostly ineffective covering one on one, he was almost a non factor in the series. The scoring slack was picked up mostly by Pierce, with KG helping most of the time. Boston's bench was also wildly ineffective, with major stinkbombs in games 5 and 6 (3 and 10 points from the bench, respectively).
Detroit has four proven scorers who are capable of taking over the game. Billups, Prince, Wallace, and Hamilton are all capable of carrying the scoring load when the game is on the line, and run their half-court offense to perfection. Even Antonio McDyess is a solid big man, htough not the best scorer. Although they have been known to start off games in sluggish fashion, i tend to trust the pistons' scorers more than i have Boston's in these playoffs.
3. Coaching: Flip Saunders vs. Doc Rivers. We're talking about two polar opposites here. For the past 3 years, Saunders has been the definition of consistency, getting his team deep into the playoffs every year, and consistently ending the regular season in the top slots in the East. While many people forget this, Doc Rivers has actually been one of the worse coaches in Basketball for the same period of time before this year. In the playoffs, Rivers' flaws have been exposed while Saunders has remained cool and managed his team.
Rivers' has been incapable so far of setting an established rotation and keeping to it, substituting players randomly as if they were a hockey team and destroying Rondo's confidence in the process by constantly giving his minutes to Cassell, who, while he has playoff experience, it necessarily isn't good experience, and he tends to try and keep the ball for as long as possible and make forced shots whenever he can. Rivers has also proven inept at modifying his game plan when needed, refusing to cover a red-hot Joe Smith in the Atlanta series, and constantly ignoring Al Horford. Against the cavs, his over-attention on Lebron (albeit justified), left the rest of the team to run wild and seemingly score at will. Saunders managed to shut down Iguodala against the Sixers and severely limited Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard's effectiveness against orlando.
4. Experience: Now, this one may seem a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. The celtics have the big names (Garnett, Pierce, Allen), but their combined playoff experience leaves alot to be desired. Garnett had most of his experience in one season with the T'wolves, when they reach the second round, and went on to implode. Allen's experience follows the same line, and Pierce hasn't been in the playoffs since 2004.
The Pistons have more collective experience than any other team in the playoffs right now. They've kept the same core of players intact throughout their impressive run of conference finals. Because of this, the Pistons have developed a consistent game plan and are extremely adept at using it.
5. Clutchability: Simply put, the Pistons are a clutch TEAM. They showed it in game 4 of round 1 against the sixers. Down at the half, the pistons came out guns blazing and didn't look back until they were done with orlando. Chauncy Billups is perhaps one of the best playoff performers in the NBA right now, and Wallace, Hamilton, and Prince aren't far behind. The Pistons have showed time and time again that they can win when it matters, and they have an extra gear that is difficult to stop MOST nights (note: i wrote this while watching game 1, and the pistons looked extremely, well, un-clutch, but my argument still stands).
However, in this department, the Pistons have an ace in the hole, and his name is Paul Pierce. Even with the addition of KG and Ray Allen, it is always clear who is the leader on this team. KG may have pushed the team over the top with his passion and his chest-thumping near-psychotic energy, but Pierce has been the constant clutch for this team. KG plays like a scared kid when the game is on the line, shying away from the shots he needs to make and hesitating too much on his fade-away and easy looks. Pierce, on the other hand, in a brilliant display of clutch, outgunned LeBron in game 7 (even though he was outscored 45 to 41, Pierce's contributions to the C's were far greater, including his crucial steal of a ball LeBron should have had.) Pierce, however, cannot win without the other two parts of that threesome, and with Ray Allen's jumper somewhere between thailand and jupiter, its hard to see KG finally deciding to step up with two minutes left when the game is on the line.
So there you have it, i guess you can pretty much figure out my pick, but i'll write it down anyways, just so there's no confusion: Detroit in 7.
expect a crazy series, and don't blame me for being wrong......again.
Be scared celtic fans, because looming large tonight is the definition of a battle-tested playoff team. The Pistons have reached four straight conference finals after winning their title in 2004 and are hungry for a return to the finals, and if things hold up, i wont be surprised to see the Pistons, and not the celtics, squaring off against the west's champion.
here are my top 5 reasons why the pistons will win this series and reach the finals one more time.
1. Winning road games: During the regular season, the C's were the best team on the road, by far. With a 31-10 record, the celtics were the definition of dominance on the road. However, Since the start of the playoffs, they haven't won a single game on the road, dropping three games each in Atlanta and Cleveland. Even though they are extremely dominant at home, it will take more than that to beat Detroit. To win this series, the Celtics need to split the two games at the Palace to have a real shot of moving on.
On the other hand, Detroit has been the only team that has consistently won on the road these playoffs. they dispatched the sixers in six, closing out the series in Philly, and they routed orlando in 5 games, splitting the games played in Orlando. The odds are very low that detroit will give up more games than they already have at the palace, and the Celtics are not looking very certain of themselves at home.
2. Proven scorers: We all know about the "boston three party", but what you may or may not have noticed is how that became a two person affair in the Cleveland series, when Ray Allen couldn't hit the ocean if he tried (he shot a whopping .328 from the field on 20-61 shooting, including .167 from beyond the arc on 4-24 shooting). Paired up with the fact that Allen is mostly ineffective covering one on one, he was almost a non factor in the series. The scoring slack was picked up mostly by Pierce, with KG helping most of the time. Boston's bench was also wildly ineffective, with major stinkbombs in games 5 and 6 (3 and 10 points from the bench, respectively).
Detroit has four proven scorers who are capable of taking over the game. Billups, Prince, Wallace, and Hamilton are all capable of carrying the scoring load when the game is on the line, and run their half-court offense to perfection. Even Antonio McDyess is a solid big man, htough not the best scorer. Although they have been known to start off games in sluggish fashion, i tend to trust the pistons' scorers more than i have Boston's in these playoffs.
3. Coaching: Flip Saunders vs. Doc Rivers. We're talking about two polar opposites here. For the past 3 years, Saunders has been the definition of consistency, getting his team deep into the playoffs every year, and consistently ending the regular season in the top slots in the East. While many people forget this, Doc Rivers has actually been one of the worse coaches in Basketball for the same period of time before this year. In the playoffs, Rivers' flaws have been exposed while Saunders has remained cool and managed his team.
Rivers' has been incapable so far of setting an established rotation and keeping to it, substituting players randomly as if they were a hockey team and destroying Rondo's confidence in the process by constantly giving his minutes to Cassell, who, while he has playoff experience, it necessarily isn't good experience, and he tends to try and keep the ball for as long as possible and make forced shots whenever he can. Rivers has also proven inept at modifying his game plan when needed, refusing to cover a red-hot Joe Smith in the Atlanta series, and constantly ignoring Al Horford. Against the cavs, his over-attention on Lebron (albeit justified), left the rest of the team to run wild and seemingly score at will. Saunders managed to shut down Iguodala against the Sixers and severely limited Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard's effectiveness against orlando.
4. Experience: Now, this one may seem a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. The celtics have the big names (Garnett, Pierce, Allen), but their combined playoff experience leaves alot to be desired. Garnett had most of his experience in one season with the T'wolves, when they reach the second round, and went on to implode. Allen's experience follows the same line, and Pierce hasn't been in the playoffs since 2004.
The Pistons have more collective experience than any other team in the playoffs right now. They've kept the same core of players intact throughout their impressive run of conference finals. Because of this, the Pistons have developed a consistent game plan and are extremely adept at using it.
5. Clutchability: Simply put, the Pistons are a clutch TEAM. They showed it in game 4 of round 1 against the sixers. Down at the half, the pistons came out guns blazing and didn't look back until they were done with orlando. Chauncy Billups is perhaps one of the best playoff performers in the NBA right now, and Wallace, Hamilton, and Prince aren't far behind. The Pistons have showed time and time again that they can win when it matters, and they have an extra gear that is difficult to stop MOST nights (note: i wrote this while watching game 1, and the pistons looked extremely, well, un-clutch, but my argument still stands).
However, in this department, the Pistons have an ace in the hole, and his name is Paul Pierce. Even with the addition of KG and Ray Allen, it is always clear who is the leader on this team. KG may have pushed the team over the top with his passion and his chest-thumping near-psychotic energy, but Pierce has been the constant clutch for this team. KG plays like a scared kid when the game is on the line, shying away from the shots he needs to make and hesitating too much on his fade-away and easy looks. Pierce, on the other hand, in a brilliant display of clutch, outgunned LeBron in game 7 (even though he was outscored 45 to 41, Pierce's contributions to the C's were far greater, including his crucial steal of a ball LeBron should have had.) Pierce, however, cannot win without the other two parts of that threesome, and with Ray Allen's jumper somewhere between thailand and jupiter, its hard to see KG finally deciding to step up with two minutes left when the game is on the line.
So there you have it, i guess you can pretty much figure out my pick, but i'll write it down anyways, just so there's no confusion: Detroit in 7.
expect a crazy series, and don't blame me for being wrong......again.
